Mariposa Military Base
Field control terminal Vats control computer }} "Vats of Goo" (Fallout) "Underground Troubles" (Fallout 2) The '''Mariposa Military Base was a top-secret United States military facility built to house Forced Evolutionary Virus research previously conducted at West Tek, located somewhere in the area of the Mariposa unincorporated community in California. Locations * In Fallout, Mariposa Military Base can be found thirteen squares west of Vault 13. * In Fallout 2, the base can be found ten squares east and twenty-seven squares south of Arroyo. Background The FEV Project In 2076, the NBC division of West-Tek achieved breakthrough results in the Pan-Immunity Virion Project. The United States Defense Department, in fear of international espionage, moved a military team under the command of Colonel Robert Spindel and Captain Roger Maxson onto the site to secure and oversee the project, now dubbed the FEV (Forced Evolutionary Virus) project.The Vault Dweller: "{207}{}{Base Information}" Power management and mainframe terminal: "{211}{}{West Tech Research Facility: Founded in 2002 as a private contractor for the United States government, the company initially consisted of two divisions--the Advanced Weapons Research and the Biomedical Sciences divisions.} {241}{}{ In 2069, West Tech was the single largest contractor for the United States government; its largest contract being Powered Infantry Armor Model T-51b. }" "{242}{}{In light of significant advances in 2076 by the NBC on the Pan-Immunity Virion Project, the United States Defense Department, in fear of international espionage,}" "{243}{}{ moved a team onto the site to secure and oversee the project, now dubbed the FEV (Forced Evolutionary Virus) project.}" (GPWRTERM.MSG) On January 7, 2077, all Californian FEV research was moved to the newly-constructed Mariposa Military Base from the West Tek facility to commence testing of the virus on human subjects.The Vault Dweller: "{209}{}{Research Information}" Power management and mainframe terminal: "{232}{}{FEV Summary Digest: 2073. As China became increasingly aggressive with their use of biological weapons, the United States government felt that a countermeasure was needed. The Pan-Immunity Virion Project (PVP) was officially formed on September 15, 2073. }" "{233}{}{2075. It became clear that the best way to combat the newly created biological weapons was to alter uninfected DNA so that it was no longer susceptible to standard viral infection.}" "{234}{}{2076. Unforeseen side effects began surfacing in early 2076 with the PVP. Animal test subjects began showing an abnormal growth rate accompanied by increased brain activity. }" "{235}{}{The U.S. government took notice of these discoveries, and in the interests of national security, moved a team on-site to secure and oversee the project, which was now dubbed the FEV (Forced Evolutionary Virus) project.}" "{236}{}{2077. FEV nears completion. Test on lab animals are at a near 100% success rate. Size and muscle density increased by approximately 60%, and the potential intelligence increase by 200%. }" "{237}{}{Effects upon human subjects remain unknown; although they are theoretically promising. }" "{238}{}{The military, wishing to continue further testing, builds a large facility at the Mariposa military installation in central California. At this new facility, testing of the FEV virus continues on volunteer subjects from the military.}" (GPWRTERM.MSG)FEV experiment disk: "Log Date January 7, 2077: Major Barnett has ordered transfer of all FEV research to the Mariposa Military Base. He plans to continue the project experiments on volunteer subjects. I am against this, and would like it noted here that research on human subjects is not recommended by myself or my staff." The security team was transferred to the newly constructed base as well, to provide protection for the research going on within the facility. They were not informed of the nature of the research.Captain Roger Maxson's diary, October 10, 2077: "I, Roger Maxson, Captain, serial number 072389 have started this log because it doesn't look good for any of us, and I'd like for people to know what really happened here. All hell broke loose when we finally discovered what those scientist bastards were up to. The Colonel has locked himself in his office and seems to be having some sort of breakdown. The men are screaming for blood. They're looking to me for answers, and I'm not sure what to do. Someone has to do something, though, before this place sinks into an anarchistic bloodbath." This secrecy backfired shortly before October 10, 2077, when soldiers stationed at the base discovered the human testing that was going on at the base, made worse by the fact that the scientists were using military prisoners as test subjects. Colonel Spindel suffered a nervous breakdown, locking himself in his office, leaving Captain Maxson to handle the deteriorating situation at the base. The soldiers were screaming for blood and became increasingly aggressive. When two days later, on October 12, the captain stopped a soldier from murdering a scientist, he ordered the scientists to be interrogated.Captain Roger Maxson's diary, October 12, 2077: "I stopped one of the men from executing a scientist today, and demanded that we interrogate them to find out what their orders were." The first scientist to be interrogated by Captain Maxson was Robert Anderson, chief researcher of the research team at Mariposa. Anderson explained that the testing at the facility was sanctioned and, in fact, ordered by the government, as he outlined the experiments to the captain. When Maxson refused to believe him, the scientist lost his nerve and started screaming how he was just following orders and that he was also a military man. In response, Captain Maxson killed him.Captain Roger Maxson's diary, October 13, 2077: "I killed a man today. I was interrogating Chief Scientist Anderson and he was giving me the full details of their inhuman experiments. He said his orders came from the Gov't., but I didn't buy it. He started screaming about how he was following orders, how he was a military man, and I just shot him..." This established Maxson as the leader of the rebellion. His position was further reinforced on October 15, when Colonel Spindel committed suicide as his men broke into his office.Captain Roger Maxson's diary, October 15, 2077: "I broke down the door with several of the men just in time to watch him blow his head off. Right before he pulled the trigger he said he was sorry." Subsequent scientist interrogations invariably ended in executions. Erin Shellman held out the longest, almost convincing the captain that the experiments were really ordered by the government.Captain Roger Maxson's diary, October 18, 2077: "...The interrogations invariably end up being executions. Shellman held out the longest, but the end result was the same. Her arguments about her orders were a bit too specific to be completely made up. I'm getting a real bad feeling in my gut about how this is all going to end up..." On October 20, 2077, Captain Maxson declared his unit in full secession from the United States, attempting to force the government to respond to the situation at Mariposa. No response came. Two days later, he ordered the families of soldiers under his command to take shelter within the facility.Captain Roger Maxson's diary, October 20, 2077: "I finally replied to the outside world over our radio. I don't know why they never sent anyone here to see what was happening when we stopped responding to their transmissions. It doesn't make any sense. Well, they'll come now. I declared ourselves seceded from the union. They remember Jefferson Davis. What will history say about me?" On October 23, 2077, the Great War struck. As Maxson was halfway through prying the story from Head Researcher Leon Von Felden, the facility lost contact with the outside world as nuclear weapons started to drop. Spared the nuclear devastation, Mariposa protected the inhabitants from nuclear fallout flooding the wasteland. Fearing that China would soon make up for the oversight, on October 24, Maxson ordered his soldiers and their families to prepare to vacate the base the next day.Maxson log On October 25, Sergeant Platner volunteered to take atmospheric readings outside the base. Reporting no significant amounts of radiation in the atmosphere, final preparations for the exodus were undertaken. On October 26, Maxson ordered the remains of the scientists to be buried in the wastes outside the base. A day later, on October 27, former US servicemen and their families left the base under the leadership of Captain Roger Maxson, heading for the Lost Hills government bunker in the south.Captain Roger Maxson's diary, October 25, 2077: "Sgt. Platner volunteered to go outside today to take specific readings on the atmosphere. It seems the radiation has not spread this far. Since he was wearing his power armor, there was no threat to him from radiation, but if he had been exposed he would have had to be exiled. We don't have adequate decontamination facilities here."Captain Roger Maxson's diary, October 27, 2077: "We're leaving this godforsaken place today. I'm leading the exodus to the old government bunker at Lost Hills..." The Rise of the Master The base was left sealed, but over the years, it slowly fell into disrepair, and eventually, various creatures made their way inside, mutating due to F.E.V. exposure and infesting the surrounding area, attacking fledgling human settlements and caravans. The problem was becoming increasingly severe, to the point when Harold, a caravan master from the Hub, mounted an expedition in 2102 to locate and destroy the source of mutants.Fallout Bible 0: "2102 May 22 Increasing mutant attacks on Harold's caravans cause Harold to get so pissed he finances one of the first adventuring parties of Fallout to try and find out where these dagnab mutants are coming from. Consulting with a scientist and doctor at the Hub, a man by the name of Grey, the two of them decide to join forces." Dr. Richard Grey was one of the explorers who were part of the expedition. Harold led the men into Mariposa, but failed to account for the automated defenses, which were still online, and promptly attacked the explorers. Taking heavy casualties, they made their way to the deepest, fourth level, the F.E.V vats, where a crane smashed into the two surviving explorers, Harold and Richard Grey. The former was knocked out, the latter landed in one of the virus vats, succumbing to a severe overdose.The Vault Dweller: "{128}{}{Where were the mutants coming from?}" Harold: "{133}{HROLD10}{Everywhere! Hell, seemed like you couldn't fart without hitting one. But mostly in the northwest.}" The Vault Dweller: "{134}{}{Did you explore that area?}" Harold: "{138}{HROLD11}{We mounted an expedition. God, Richard. Richard Grey. Led a small group of us up there.}" The Vault Dweller: "{139}{}{Richard Grey?}" Harold: "{146}{HROLD14}{Richard Grey was a doctor. Little older than me, and friend was he smart. He found the source.}" The Vault Dweller: "{147}{}{And what was that?}" Harold: "{160}{HROLD18}{Some sort of old military base. We lost a lotta folks getting in there.}" The Vault Dweller: "{161}{}{How did you know this base was the cause?}" Harold: "{165}{HROLD20}{Because it was like someone went bargain shopping at mutantland! Geez! Cheaper by the dozens! Can't figure any other reason except that being the factory.}" The Vault Dweller: "{166}{}{Did you examine the base closely?}" Harold: "{167}{HROLD21}{We got pretty far inside. Wasn't a lot of us left by then. Grey, me and couple of others.}" The Vault Dweller: "{168}{}{And then?}" Harold: "{169}{HROLD22}{One of them robots got Francine. Mark was wounded, sent him back to the surface. Then it was just me and Grey.}" The Vault Dweller: "{170}{}{What ever happened to Mark?}" Harold: "{172}{HROLD23}{To this day, I don't know. He never made it back here, and...well I...couldn't face the wasteland again, so I...I never looked.}" The Vault Dweller: "{173}{}{What about you and Grey?}" Harold: "{174}{HROLD24}{We made it to some sort of central core, like a plant of some sort. That's when it happened.}" The Vault Dweller: "{175}{}{What?}" Harold: "{176}{HROLD25}{A robot crane crashed into us. Last I saw of Grey, he was flying through the air in-into some sort of acid bath. I was in bad shape and...well I passed out.}" The Vault Dweller: "{177}{}{How did you survive?}" Harold: "{181}{HROLD26}{Well, I have no idea. Woke up in the wasteland, barely hanging on. Got lucky and some traders I knew found me days later. Good thing, since I was already changing. They brought me here, and here I've been since.}" The Vault Dweller: "{182}{}{How did you mutate?}" Harold: "{190}{HROLD28}{All's I know, is it was something inside that base.}" The Vault Dweller: "{191}{}{Do you think it could have been radiation?}" Harold: "{193}{HROLD29}{How the hell should I know? Grey would've known if anybody could. sigh Anyway, that's how the deal went down.}" (HAROLD.MSG) In pain, horribly mutated, he crawled into the control room, as his intellect grew. In a few days, he was neurolinked to the base computer, drawing upon its sizable data banks.Richard Grey's audio diary: 0154 - 0172: "I've begun to modify myself to be more pleasing to the Unity by injecting small doses of the virus into my body. The slime in the vats is a man-made virus called the Forced Evolutionary Virus. This information was acquired from my newly grown neurolink with the base computer." As he created the idea of the Unity, wanderers began to enter the facility, and Grey patiently captured and dipped them, in order to create beings as perfect as him. When the first true super mutants were created, he set out to create a true mutant army, at the same time deciding to look for a permanent base of operations. In 2155, one of his patrols located a group of vault dwellers from the Los Angeles Vault, and he made the decision to transfer himself there, occupying the vault.Fallout Bible 0: "2155-2156 After capturing a caravan of strange-garbed travelers (vault dwellers), Master learns the location of the Boneyard Vault, the future site of the Cathedral. He conquers the inhabitants and sets up operations there, and the human cultists begin to use the Vault as their powerbase. Within the Vault, the Master learns of other Vaults, and realizing their human occupants are ripe for transformation, begins to send out patrols to Vault locations in search of these other Vaults." The base was entrusted to the Lieutenant, one of the greatest super mutant minds to exist. Mariposa was rebuilt and cleaned up, once again becoming the magnificent military base it was before the War. Super mutants roamed the halls, restocking the armories and medical bays and soon it became the staging area for their assault on humanity, as well as the only super mutant production center.The Vault Dweller: "{125}{}{What is it you do here?}" Lieutenant: "{129}{LIEUT7}{My dear human, this is the great procreator! Here we'll make others of the master race and insure the Unity. It's all quite glorious, I assure you.}" The Vault Dweller: "{131}{}{Sounds like it. Why do you need all this to, uh, procreate?}" Lieutenant: "{133}{LIEUT8}{Presently, there is a slight . . . problem in the reproductive process. It's being attended to. For now, we must use the Vats to turn humans into Super Mutants. You'll experience that glory yourself momentarily.}" (LT.MSG) Then came the Vault Dweller in 2162. It is unknown whether or not he infiltrated the base or blasted his way in; suffice to say, once he was through, Mariposa was little more than a caved-in, smoldering ruin. Enclave's excavations The existence of the Mariposa Military Base was listed in Enclave records, which enabled the Enclave to find the base and begin their excavations.Fallout Bible 0:"Unknown. The Mariposa Military Base was constructed for the purposes of FEV experimentation on human beings, and considering the nature of the "volunteers" (military prisoners who didn't have their brains scooped for use in brain bots) and the lack of any shred of ethics in the experimentation procedures, it is possible the Enclave had something to do with the experiments at Mariposa. In Mariposa records, however, the Military Base is never mentioned as under the direction of any organization called the "Enclave," and Colonel Spindel, head of the military squad stationed at the base, never indicated any Enclave allegiance... nor did Chief Scientist Anderson in the last few minutes before Maxson put a bullet through his skull." "Still, the existence of the Mariposa Military Base was listed in Enclave records, and this enabled the Enclave to find the base and begin their excavations, so it is possible that some elements of the Pre-War Enclave had their fingers in the horrors taking place at Mariposa. They held the site for many years, but abandoned it after obtaining the FEV samples... and noting the high incidence of mutation among the worker slaves and some of their soldiers, including Frank Horrigan." On July 20th, 2236, Enclave scouts (re)discovered the ruins of the Mariposa Military Base.Fallout Bible 0: "2236 July 20 Enclave scouts discover the remains of the Mariposa Military Base and find it partially destroyed." The Chemical Corps and other scientists began to scour the base, while assault squads began gathering slaves to use for excavating the base.Fallout Bible 0: "2236 July-August Enclave scientists and chemical corps scour the remains of Mariposa, while assault squads comb the desert for slaves they can use to mine the military base and get to the Vats. One of the squads includes soldier Frank Horrigan, 25 at the time, recently removed from duty on the President's secret service to take some RNR time in the wastes after some undocumented psychotic blunder or another." In the process, they capture Melchior from the town of Redding.Fallout Bible 0: "2236: August Melchior is captured by an Enclave patrol and becomes part of the slave mining force at the Military Base." Excavations began in September. The slaves and construction crews dug into the collapsed base, removing tons of rock. Unprotected wastelanders were exposed to low levels of FEV in the ruins, released after the base self-destructed and mutations began to occur. At the same time, Frank Horrigan is exposed to the virus and sent to Control station Enclave for study.Fallout Bible 0: "2236: September Enclave construction crews and super mutant slaves begin excavations. They uncover the FEV virus, and mutations begin to occur in the human workers. Frank Horrigan comes into contact with the FEV and is sent to the Enclave labs for study." By October, Melchior (now mutating) realized that the Enclave would execute him and the others as soon as they recover the FEV and virus data. He began secretly stashing away weapons for the mutants in anticipation of the confrontation.Fallout Bible 0: "2236 October Melchior begins to mutate... but keeps his intelligence and cunning in the wake of the transformation, making him pretty smart for a super mutant. Realizing that the Enclave will kill the super mutants after they get the FEV data, he begins to use his magician talents to secret away weapons for the mutants to defend themselves when the Enclave decides to dispense with them." The excavations are complete in January 2237. Shortly after Enclave scientists manage to obtain a pure sample of FEV and leave the base, the mutants rose up against their Enclave overseers. After suffering heavy casualties, the Enclave forces fell back and sealed the mutants in.Military base outside: "As expected the worker population has mutated rapidly once exposed to the pure source. Heavy, but acceptable losses are reported. I've ordered the evacuation of the base. As soon as the last person is out, we'll blow the entrance to the base and seal the bastards in." The remaining first and second-generation super mutant slaves remained in the base, and the group formed a new community under the leadership of Melchior, whose magic talents had allowed them to hide the weapons. Structure Fallout 1= Surface : Square footage: 30,000 ft Mariposa was a reinforced military base, constructed in the middle of nowhere, in the side of a mountain. The exterior had a characteristic white lining and a massive air conditioning vent, which provided fresh air for the complex. Inside, it consisted of four levels, stretching across a mile of depth. Stronghold Level 1 : Square footage: 40,000 ft The first level of Mariposa housed the gear needed for any excursions, as well as a staging area for patrols. The main control computers for the base's force fields and robotic guardians were located here, allowing any infiltrator to considerably sabotage the base, just by altering the pest control setting for the robobrains, in addition to altering the force field status remotely. Apart from that, guard barracks were located on this level, for off-duty surface security teams. Stronghold Level 2 : Square footage: 60,000 ft The primary soldier living quarters, medbay and armory were located on this level. The quarters were spacious, although spartan in design, with a large stockpile of weapons just around the corner and a well-equipped sickbay, stocked chock full of medical chems, surgical equipment and medical beds with integrated life support systems. Stronghold Level 3 : Square footage: 80,000 ft The third level was divided in two, one was the general access area, where the assembly room and elevator to the commander's office were located, the second a military prison with an elevator going directly to the vats. When Mariposa was operating under government jurisdiction, experimenting with FEV, only scientists and their security staff were allowed into the prison area and the vats; soldiers under Colonel Spindel and Roger Maxson were barred from entry. Vats : Square footage: 60,000 ft Divided in two as well, the deepest level housed the massive FEV vats, together with their control room, scientist living quarters as well as the base commander's office. As with the third level, access to the FEV research area was strictly limited, with only scientists being allowed to enter. A special containment squad, the super mutant Vat Team 9, was stationed in the room near the cell block access elevator, to deal with any potential disturbances. It was composed of three soldiers. The vats control room was where the base's mainframe was also located, holding personnel logs (Boyarsky, Roger Maxson, Richard Grey etc.) as well as the self-destruction initiation subsystem. Encrypted behind a firewall, these were nonetheless accessible for a skilled hacker. Alternatively, just blowing the console up would trigger the self-destruct sequence, but the base would be set to alert status, powering up the force fields. |-| Fallout 2= Surface The layout of the base is pretty much similar to that in Fallout, although there are some tents (in one of them is the Military base holodisk 5) outside the base, wolf packs and the entrance to the base is blocked by rubble. To get in the base the player character will need to find the metal pole and put it on the rail cart ("Use on"). Next, they need to put some dynamite (can be found in the little shack right from the entrance to the base) on the rail cart (right-click and hold on the cart, and then choose the "bag" option; after that, simply click on the dynamite from the menu) and push it down. Doing this will net the player character 5,000 XP. Stronghold Level 1 When the player character arrives at the first level of the base, the first thing they would notice are the Enclave soldiers and mutant bodies lying around. The player character can loot these for holodisks and a plasma pistol. The level is mostly filled with mutated rats (which can poison the player character if they bite), which can be easily dispatched. However, in one of the halls, there is a super mutant, Grundel, who will attack the player character if they try to talk to him. He is wearing spiked knuckles. In the southwest corner (in the hall leading to the elevator), there is a broken power generator, which can be repaired for 1,500 XP (this can be easily done if one has Vic in your party). Doing this will also turn on the lights in the base. Stronghold Level 2 The second level of the base is filled with super mutants, about 15 of them, but for an experienced player character, they shouldn't pose a large threat. Mutants are usually wielding power fists and flamers, although few of them use laser rifles and plasma rifles. In most of the lockers, the player character can find money, stimpaks, some ammunition and in the east corner of the map, a suit of T-51b power armor. Stronghold Level 3 Like on the second level of the base, the third level is also inhabited by super mutants that use laser rifles, plasma rifles, and flamers. Also, there are some mutated beasts (pig rats) which are weak, but the player character can get poisoned if they bite them. There are super duper mutants on this level, which have greater HP than "normal" mutants. As comes to the loot, the player character should pay attention to the first room after exiting the elevator. In the room is the locker, in which the player character can find a green memory module, which can be used to expand ACE's medical library, thus allowing the player character to increase their Perception by 1. Finally, in the southeastern corner of the map, there is an elevator that takes the player character to the final level of the base, the vats. Vats The deepest level of the base houses one of the tougher enemies in Fallout 2, Melchior. He is standing in the northwestern corner of the map, surrounded by goo which has remained there since the Vault Dweller destroyed the FEV vats. Melchior himself is not that tough, but his abilities are unique. From the vats (or more precisely, the goo), he can and will summon deathclaws, fire geckos, floaters and mutated mole rats. They are summoned in that descending order, and if the player character is strong enough to survive several waves of them, they are rewarded with some funny lines. He can have 4 summoned allies at a time, which can be bothersome, so it is best to dispatch him first, and then his "pets." This is quite challenging, even for experienced player characters with a good party, so they should be very cautious and prepared to leave the scene of battle with 1-2 fewer companions. Melchior also guards a locker containing a PPK12 Gauss pistol. Notes * The background music is Vats of Goo, which was originally used for the intro in Fallout. The music is the same in both Fallout and Fallout 2 and is used for Broken Hills as well. * In 2241, there are some super mutants named as super duper mutants. One of them can talk about their recipe: rat surprise. The recipe is told as to when the rat is caught, it's hung on a wall by its tail until it detaches from its tail. Once done, it is needed to be eaten quickly, else "the surprise would crawl out and fly away."Super duper mutant's dialogue Appearances The Mariposa Military Base appears in Fallout and Fallout 2. It is mentioned in Fallout 3 by Harold in Oasis. The base is also mentioned in a terminal located in Vault 87. It is also mentioned in the personal journals of Maxson I, which are stored in the Citadel archives. It is mentioned on a Fallout: New Vegas loading screen saying that the super mutants in the Mojave are the remnants of Mariposa, and in its add-on Dead Money by Dog in his idle dialogue. Behind the scenes * According to Chris Taylor, Mariposa Military Base is based on Fort Ord, a defunct military base near Monterey Bay, California, that has been closed since 1994. It was called Base Omega in early design documents. * The base is rather far away from the real-life Mariposa County, which is on the other side of the California Valley, close to the in-game location of Vault 13. It's also much further north than Fort Ord. The closest real-life locations are the San Luis Reservoir and the city of Los Banos, CA. * The name of the base, Mariposa, in Spanish means butterfly. This connects to the metamorphosis that occurs in a caterpillar turning it into a "better" creature, in this case, a butterfly. When pure humans are dipped into the FEV vats they transform into a "better" creature, in this case, a smarter/faster/stronger super mutant. Bugs * In a few cases the yellow force fields' device cannot be deactivated by the use of a tool. If that happens it's only necessary to simply use the Repair skill directly into the force field device. * In Fallout, in Mariposa level 2, there are some super mutants locked in a room. Loading a previous save will make them all dead, or make them disappear entirely. Related holodisks ''Fallout'' * FEV experiment disk * FEV research * West Tek records ''Fallout 2'' * Military base holodisk 5 * Military base level 1 * Military base level 2 * Military base level 3 * Military base level 4 Gallery Fo1 Mariposabasebackground.png|Mariposa Military Base's interior Mariposa Base hidden lifeforms.jpg|Melchior's pets on the top right corner (impossible to go there) on level 4 in Fallout 2 Fo2 Mariposa Entrance interiors.jpg|Interiors of the tents outside the base Сoncept art Vats concept.jpg|Vats, concept art by Anthony Postma Vats 3.jpg PrisonerRack.jpg|Prisoner rack See also * Ending cutscenes for Mariposa Military Base References Category:Mariposa Military Base de:Mariposa Militärbasis es:Base Militar Mariposa fr:Base militaire de Mariposa ja:Mariposa Military Base pl:Baza Wojskowa Mariposa pt:Mariposa Military Base ru:Военная база Марипоза uk:Військова база Маріпоза zh:玛丽博萨军事基地